Berlin police say thieves broke into the German
capital's Bode Museum and made off with a massive 100-kilogram gold coin worth millions.

Spokesman Stefen Petersen said
thieves apparently entered through a through a window about 3:30 a.m.
Monday, broke into a cabinet where the "Big Maple Leaf" coin was kept,
and escaped with it before police arrived.

A ladder was found by nearby railway tracks.

The three-centimeter thick
coin, with a diameter of 53 centimeters, has a face value
of $1 million. By weight alone, however, it would be worth almost $4.5
million at market prices.

The museum says the coin is in
the Guinness Book of Records for its purity of 999.99/1000 gold. It has a
portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on one side and maple leaves on the
other.